AUBURN, Ala. — The Saturday evening Mass at St. Michael the Archangel Catholic Church here will be a cappella because the organist has football tickets. Weddings and funerals will be rarities. Car dealerships are expected to go dark. The J & M Bookstore will close at kickoff — and reopen after the game only if the home team wins.

The normal course of civil society in this state is transformed every year when Auburn University and the University of Alabama meet for what some believe is just a football game and what others see as a test of moral virtue. But the 78th matchup in what is now known as the Iron Bowl will be the first time the winner will grab the usual statewide bragging rights while simultaneously keeping its national title hopes alive and earning a spot in the Southeastern Conference championship game.

As a result, almost everything outside Jordan-Hare Stadium figures to sputter to a halt for a four-hour stretch on Saturday as top-ranked Alabama seeks an undefeated regular season, No. 4 Auburn enjoys its abrupt resurgence as a football power, and the state proves there are few limits to its infatuation with all things pigskin-related.

And the observances won’t end on Saturday. The Sunday sermon at the Auburn Church of Christ will be about humility because, as its sign along South College Street put it, “We’ll either have it or need it.”

“It’s gigantic. It’s for all the marbles,” said Eric Stamp, who owns a print shop in Auburn. “People change their Thanksgiving weekend plans to accommodate the Iron Bowl.” (For decades, the game was played in Birmingham, known for iron and steel production.)

The Alabama faithful concur. “Everyone knows going in that if your team loses, it will hurt you for decades. Just the mention of it in 25 years will cause certain people to retch in despair,” said Warren St. John, a former reporter for The New York Times whose book “Rammer Jammer Yellow Hammer,” documenting the zeal of Crimson Tide supporters, was once the textbook for a University of Alabama course about the culture surrounding Southern football. Continued

AUBURN, Ala. — They didn’t want to leave. That’s what happens when the craziest finish in the history of college football unfolds on the sleepy Alabama plains. It kicks off a party that’s a graduation celebration, wedding reception and sorority formal all rolled into one primal scream. Photos flashed straight to Instagram. Elderly couples hobbled on the field and pecked lips. Families posed for Christmas card pictures. In one mad dash down the left sideline, Auburn’s Chris Davis sprinted straight into college football lore. His 109-yard return of Adam Griffith’s 57-yard field goal attempt gave No. 4 Auburn a 34-28 victory over No. 1 Alabama as time expired.

As Davis waltzed into the end zone escorted by two teammates, he delivered the BCS generation its indelible Doug Flutie moment. (One that even trumped Ricardo Louis’ unlikely 73-yard touchdown catch to cap Auburn’s 43-38 victory over Georgia two weeks ago.) Only this one had a more improbable finish, and impossibly higher stakes.

Davis’ dash capped a furious comeback that saw Auburn score 13 points in the final 32 seconds. The only thing that matched the veracity of celebration was the magnitude of the situation. In one stunning twist, Auburn ended Alabama’s chance to win its third consecutive national championship, clinched a spot in the SEC title game and launched the Tigers into the BCS title conversation. “God is good,” Davis said after the game, with divine intervention seemingly the only possible explanation. Continued

AUBURN, Alabama — Here’s the view from the end of the (STUNNED) Alabama bench as Adam Griffith’s 56-yard field goal attempt fell short on the final play of the Iron Bowl. Auburn’s Chris Davis returned the kick 100-plus yards to give the Tigers a 34-28 win on the game’s final play. You’ll see the Crimson Tide react to the stunning moment while Auburn cornerback Ryan Smith taunted a few players. Several other Tigers came over to shake hands in that moment as well.

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A Collection of fan reactions to the amazing finish of the 2013 Iron Bowl. Forth ranked Auburn shocks top ranked Alabama on a 100 yard FG return with zero seconds on the clock. 2013 Auburn vs Alabama Game

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Miracle men: Chris Davis’ return lifts Auburn over Alabama and into college football lore:

AUBURN, Ala. – And the last shall be first.

The last second of the 2013 Iron Bowl shall be first in the hearts and minds of Auburn fans forever. The last second of the 2013 Iron Bowl shall be first on the list of infamous moments in Alabama football lore. The last second will never end for those who lived it, those who loved it, those who loathed it.

The play went 99 yards and was immediately hailed on Twitter as A) McCarron’s Heisman Moment and B) the greatest play in Iron Bowl history. It turned out to be neither. What was to come would render that play a mere footnote. “You just look at the magnitude of the game,” said Auburn defensive end Dee Ford. “The way we won it, with our backs to the wall. … This has to be one of the greatest wins.” And now it sets up one of the greatest debates in the dysfunctional history of the BCS. In its final year of existence, we could have the Mother of All Arguments about who will play for the national title on Jan. 6 in Pasadena, Calif.

Undefeated Florida State seems assured of moving into the No. 1 spot in the BCS standings. But should No. 2 go to unbeaten Ohio State, which has played a soft schedule in an uninspiring Big Ten, or one-loss Auburn? Auburn linebacker Robenson Therezie has an opinion. “No doubt,” Therezie said. “The whole world seen it. We should be up there. We beat ‘Bama. We’re the only team that beat ‘Bama.”

It took the most amazing ending in college football history, but Auburn did it. The last second of this Iron Bowl shall be first in the memories of everyone who witnessed it. Full Article

A video taken inside the Auburn Basketball Arena (for fans who couldn’t get in to the game) during Chris Davis’ 109-yard return putting Auburn 34-28 over No. 1 Alabama with only a second left on the board!

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We may all live two lifetimes and never see another ending as shocking as that #IronBowl finish.

AUBURN, Ala. — A football dynasty died Saturday, or at least went comatose.

Barreling down on a shot at its fourth national title in five years, top-ranked Alabama was ambushed by Auburn, 34-28, in the teams’ closeout to the regular season on an almost unimaginable play: a last-second, length-of-the-field runback on the Crimson Tide’s fourth missed field-goal attempt of the game.

The Tide, on the verge of winning the West division title of the Southeastern Conference, yielded two touchdowns in the closing 32 seconds. Now No. 4 Auburn, the lone program other than Alabama to corral a Bowl Championship Series title in the last four seasons, might have a chance to keep the crystal trophy in-state. With a victory in the SEC championship game next Saturday in Atlanta, and perhaps with help from a fortunate outcome in the Atlantic Coast Conference or Big Ten finales, the Tigers could surface in the B.C.S. title game.

“I told our team that this is like March Madness coming into the game and you’ve got to keep winning in the tournament to keep playing,” Alabama Coach Nick Saban said. The game certainly provided strong doses of November nuttiness. In retrospect, Cade Foster’s unsuccessful field-goal attempt of 44 yards, which scuttled the Tide’s opening series, was a harbinger. Continued

Words can’t describe the emotions I’ve had over the last 48hrs. It is all still sinking in, Sjterrid. Thanks for thinking of me in my temporary moment of glory…….. I think all the good vibes helped pull this amazing game out!